Imperial Pacific International (IPI) has announced the long-awaited completion of six VIP villas and a stand-alone two-story presidential villa on the east wing of its Saipan IR, Imperial Palace‧Saipan.
Originally due to open by 30 September 2019, IPI unveiled the villas to local reporters this week with VP for Construction Eric Poon adding that, despite the delay, the company was now ahead of schedule for completion of the property’s hotel tower by its 28 February 2021 deadline, according to Marianas Variety.
“This part of the hotel-resort has been completed and ready for operations, so we are a little bit ahead of schedule,” Poon said. “We want to finish as soon as possible, and that is our goal. We are looking at the target date, but hopefully we will finish everything before that.”
The new villas are described as being “synonymous with luxury”, including infinity edge pools in all and one villa on each floor boasting its own gaming room.
IPI’s Senior Vice President Donald Browne described the addition of the villas as a “game changer” for the company, which has faced a litany of construction delays in recent years due to funding issues, extreme weather and difficulties in sourcing workers.
“Offering excellence in personalized service, a world-class room product, and one-of-a-kind amenities, Imperial Palace Resort Saipan will most certainly be regarded as one of the luxurious integrated hotel casino resorts in the world,” Browne said.
IPI reported a loss of HK$1.88 billion (US$240 million) for the first six months of 2019, coming off a loss of HK$2.97 billion (US$378 million) in 2018.
Whether the opening of new facilities through 2020 will spark a reversal in fortunes remains to be seen, with the company having previously forecast opening dates of 30 June 2020 for its second hotel, 30 September 2020 for a new VIP gaming and sky level and 31 December 2020 for its Beach Club.